India Must Do More to Protect Its Small-Town Journalists, Says Media Watchdog

Politicians and police need to do more to capture and convict killers that target journalists, report says

Indian journalists lit candles last year in New Delhi in memory of Jagendra Singh, one of the 27 journalists that the Committee to Protect Journalists says were killed in India since 1992 in direct retaliation for their work.
Photo:
Saurabh Das/Associated Press

India is known for its vibrant democracy, backed by a boisterous news industry but its journalists still need more protection from violence, according to a new report.

A culture of impunity and lack of media solidarity in India leave its journalists vulnerable to threats and attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report Monday.

The New York-based media watchdog said 27 journalists have been murdered in India since 1992 in direct retaliation for their work, usually reporting on politics and corruption from India's hinterlands.

More In Committee to Protect Journalists

Politicians and police need to do more to capture and convict killers that target journalists, the report said.

India's powerful news outlets also fail to raise a united voice against attacks and often leave the small-town journalists, working as freelancers and for local- language publications, without enough editorial supervision and financial security, the report said.

The report delves into the killings of three journalists in the last five years.

Before death, the three reporters profiled in the report were pursuing separate corruption stories involving local politicians that theoretically would have made them a target. There have been no convictions yet, the report said.

Parmeshwar Rajput, a brother of Umesh Rajput, one of the slain reporters, is quoted in the report as saying: "Silencing my brother has meant the silencing of many stories about local problems that people face."